The House Where Jami Looms, Part 1
Summary A girl is seen turning out the lights and going to sleep, as a sinister-looking figure looms at her bedside. It's summertime and on a rural road, a man with a frightening face accosts Rikuo, who had just bumped into him. The man, addressed as "Hasebe" by his companions, demands that Rikuo pay for the cleaning costs of his shirt, which is now stained with ice cream from their collision. On closer inspection, Hasebe realizes that Rikuo isn't a local, and angrily asks what he's doing in the area. Rikuo says he has come to exorcise yōkai, to which Hasebe bursts out that such things don't exist - just as several small local yōkai crowd around Rikuo and successfully scare off Hasebe and his companions. Tsurara appears beside Rikuo and questions his use of yōkai to scare someone, and he says that the yōkai did so of their own accord - before asking them not to go around frightening humans. With a dangerous expression, Tsurara states that if they run into any trouble, she will simply freeze everyone, including Kana. Up ahead, the rest of the Kiyojūji Paranormal Investigation Squad is waiting and their leader reveals that they have come to the area at the behest of an e-mail sent through his website. The sender begs for assistance with a yōkai who looms over her bed every night. Natsumi and Saori only gain enthusiasm for the idea upon learning of the blue sea nearby, but Rikuo worries about the group attempting an amateur yōkai exorcism. Kiyotsugu reassures him that the yōkai in question is a harmless one named "Jami," which only stands at one's bedside and doesn't attack people. The group arrives at their destination, where a girl with glasses is waiting for them. She instantly mistakes Rikuo to be the Kiyotsugu she contacted, and, when corrected, then voices concern at her savior being someone with natural curly hair. The girl introduces herself to be Shinako Suganuma and, as the group heads inside, Rikuo hears a voice behind him only to find that no one is there. Inside the house, Shinako's mother is meeting with a priest of the local Hideshima Shrine, who has been trying to help with the yōkai problem by putting paper seals along the walls. Shinako shows disappointment at the priest's ineptitude thus far, telling those present that the yōkai visited her again the previous night and shows them the marks left on her arm where it grabbed her. The girls of the Kiyojūji Paranormal Investigation Squad end up staying in Shinako's room with her, while the boys patrol outside. Kiyotsugu is excited at the prospect of seeing a yōkai and of possibly even once again meeting the lord of all yōkai. As he's talking, Rikuo notices a figure elsewhere outside the house and gives chase, discovering that it isn't a yōkai at all. Meanwhile, inside the house, Jami has appeared and Kana fearfully watches him out of the corner of her eye. Category:Chapters